Door unit



Ott. 21, 1947. CLAUDMANTLE v l 2,429,395

DOOR UNIT Filed Oct. 2, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet l Fi .1. '[5 i?. 5 ,9 /9

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K 4INV/ENTORr ARTHUR BLAUE-MAN ATTORNEY TLE.

Oct. 2l, 1947. A. cLAUn-MANTLE DOOR UNIT Filed OOL. 2, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR IXYQTHUR Bunn-'MANTLE ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 21, 1947 UNITED STATES *PATENT OFFICE nooaUNrr Arthur Gland-Mantle, Trumbull, Conn.

Application October 2, 1944, Serial No. 556,726

The present invention relates to a door unit, and has for an object to provide a door unit wherein the door is adapted to have edgewse projecting and retracting movement between a door frame opening and a'wall pocket.

The invention is distinct from the usual type of sliding door structure, wherein the door is movable along a rectilinear p ath upon roller supports or tracks either at the bottom or top of the door, and which involve considerable frictional resistance in the operation of the door between its open and closed positions. These sliding door structures are also extremely noisy in operation, due to the relatively great weight of the door supported upon rollers running upon track supports. A further disadvantage of the roller supported type of sliding door structure is that dirt accumulating in the trackway, or binding of the rollers due to friction and wear, is apt to jam the operation of the door, and the inaccessibility of the rollers makes repair or replacement extremely diiiicult.

The invention is also distinct from certain types of sliding doors wherein the door is suspended at its upper edge upon levers, which not only require an unusually high wall structure above the door frame, but are extremely diicult to operate, especially in the case of a relatively heavy door.

It is proposed in the present invention to provide a door unit wherein the door is supported at one of its vertical edges upon a projecting and retracting lever support, and which may be easily moved between its projected and retracted positions through edgewse force upon the door and without frictional resistance of the upper and lower edges of the door. The particular lever support employed is designed to move the door in a long low arc as it moves between its projected and retracted positions, so that it is lifted slightly from the floor as it starts its projecting or retracting movement, being out of contact with the door during its movement. Hence the only frictional resistance is that in the pivotal connections of the several parts of the lever support, and this is relatively slight.

A further object is to provide a door unit wherein the door, its lever support, and the pocket frame structure, carrying the lever support and into which the door is adapted to be retracted, may be constructed and supplied as a complete operating unit ready to be installed in the wall of the building.

It is further proposed to provide such unit wherein its parts may be conveniently formed of 6 Claims. (Cl. 16-92) metal, the pocket structure being formed of rigidly connected channel iron strips adapted to be conveniently assembled with the wooden studs, stringers, and the like, employed in the usual wall 1 structure for the purpose of having the wall surfaces, in the form of plaster board or the like, attached thereto in the usual manner. Y

The invention lends itself to improved room planning, inasmuch as the door opening can be conveniently placed in the side of the room at any desired distance from the room corners, without the disadvantage heretofore encountered with swinging doors. In particular, a door placed in the side of a room at a distance from the room corners has an arc of swing of 180, thus making the floor space required for this arc of swing useless4 for furniture arrangement therein. It has therefore been the usual practice to place the door adjacent a corner of the room, so as to obtain the greatest possible door space, the door when sov placed holding the arc of swing to 90.`

With the above and other objects in View, an embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, and this embodiment will be hereinafter more fully described with reference thereto,and the invention will be finally pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings- Fig.,1 is a side elevation of the door unit, according to the illustrated exemplary embodiment of the invention, incorporated in a wall structure,

the door being shown in open or retracted posi` tion, and the wall structure being shown partially broken away.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional View, partially broken away and on an enlarged scale, taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a Vertical sectional View, taken along the line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Y

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view, taken along the line --Ll of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional View, taken along the line 5 5 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional view, taken alongV the line E--B of Fig. 1.

Fig. 'l is a side elevation, partially broken away, showing the door in its closed or projected position.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary side elevation, on an enlarged scale, showing the latch device provided uponA the door and door edge receiving channel of the door frame.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary edge view of the door, showing the latch device carried thereby.

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary front elevation, showing the door edge receiving channel and the keeper part of the latch device provided therein.

Fig. l1 is a horizontal sectional view on a reduced scale, showing the manner in which the door may be swung with respect to the door frame for the purpose of removing or installing the door.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several gures f the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, the door unit comprises a pocket forming frame structure consisting of a transversely disposed upright channel strip iIO at one end, having its channel facing outwardly, and provided at its upper and lower ends with right angularly bent lugs II and I2, which are respectively engaged in and rigidly secured to the ends of an upper horizontally extending channel strip I3 having its channel facing downwardly and a lower horizontally extending channel strip I4 having its channel facing upwardly. These lugs may be Welded, riveted or otherwise suitably secured. Extending betweenthe upper and lower channel strips I3 and I4 is a series of spaced upright channel strips I5 disposed in opposed relation at each side of the up- .per and lower channel strips with their channels facing outwardly, being rigidly secured to the upper and lower channel strips by welding, riveting, or the like. The end upright strips I5 are disposed at the opposite ends of the upper and lower strips I3 and I4 from the upright channel strip I0, so that the assembled channel strips constitutes a rectangular frame structure, defining a door receiving pocket having a vertically extending entrance opening at one end between the pair of. end upright strips I5. The channel strips I5 are preferably spaced to correspond to the standard spacing of wall studs, that is, for instance, 16 inches apart.

The upper ends of the upright channel strips I5 project above the upper channel strip I3 to provide a series of positioning pockets for receiving the horizontal Stringer 'I6 of the wall structure which extends between a vertical stud I1 of the wall structure engaged by the vertical channel strip I0 and a vertical stud I8 of the Wall structure provided in spacedrelation to the end channel strips I5 of the frame to provide the support for the opposed jamb of the door frame, the upper horizontal support for the door frame being provided by the extension of the horizontal Stringer I6 beyond the frame to the stud I8. A series of vertical studs I 9 are secured upon the stringer I6 in vertical linewith the upright strips I5 of the frame. and within the channels of these upright strips I5 there are secured furring strips 20 having their outer side surfaces in the same vertical planes with the outer side surfaces of the studs I1 and I8 and the Stringer I9 for the purpose of having the plaster board 2| or other suitable wall surfacing material secured thereto.

The door frame is preferably formed in the usual manner by means of vertical side strips 22, horizontal side strips |23 and backbands 24. The top of the door frame is provided at its under side with a filler strip 25 secured to the under side'of the Stringer I6, and the inner. side of the upright jamb of the frame opposed to the pocket forming frame is provided with a filler strip 26 secured to the vertical stud I 8. The upright jamb of the door frame at the end of the pocket forming frame is provided upon the inner side with a pair of right angular cross-section moulding strips 21 transversely spaced from each other to provide the entrance slot for the door receiving pocket, and providing suitable facings for the end upright channel strips I5 and the end edges of the plaster boards 2I, as shown clearly in Fig. 2. The top of the door frame and the upright outer jamb are respectively provided with door edge receiving metal channel strips 28 secured thereto by screws 29, as shown clearly in Fig. 6.

Within the pocket frame a bracket member 30 is mounted upon the inner side of the vertical channel strip I0, being provided with a right angularly bent flange 3| engaged With the surface of the strip I0 and rigidly secured thereto by welding, riveting, or other suitable means. The inner edge of the bracket 30 is diagonally inclined so that the bracket is relatively wider at its upper end than at its lower end. A substantially similar but inverted bracket 32 is hingedly connected to the vertical edge at one side of the door 33, the hinge connection consisting of a pair of hinge pin receiving strips 34 secured to the door and engaged above and below a pair of tubular formations 35 upon the upper and lower ends of the bracket 32, hinge pins 36 being engaged with the strips 34 and the tubular formations 35 to thus hingedly connect the door to the bracket;

Between the bracket 3D xed to the pocket frame and the bracket 32 secured to the door there is provided an extensible support for the door in the form of a lazy tong leverage structure. This consists of a plurality of pivotally connected lever arms formed of channel iron strip material, and specifically comprises a pair of relatively long lever arms 31 and 38, of equal length, the arm 31 being pivotally connected at its upper end at 39 to the upper end of the bracket 3D at a point substantially laterally spaced from the upright I0, while the arm 38 is pivotally connected at its lower end at 40 to the lower end of the bracket 32, at a point substantially laterally spaced from the door edge. A pair of intermediate length lever arms :4I and 42 are connected between the arms 31 and 38, the arm 4I being pivotally connected at -43 at a point intermediate its ends to the central point of the lever arm 31, and being pivotally connected at its upper end at 44 to the upper end of the lever arm 38, the length of the arm between the pivot connections 43 and 44 being equal to half the length of the arm 31. Similarly the arm 42 is pivotally connected at 45 to the central point of the arm 38 and is pivotally connected at its lower end at 46 to the lower end of the arm 31. The relatively short extension of the arm 4I beyond the pivot connection 43 is pivotally connected at 41 to the outer end of a relatively short arm r48 pivotally connected at its other end at 49 to the lower end of the bracket 39 at a point substantially closer to the upright I 0' than the pivot connection 39 of the arm 31. Similarly the relatively short extension of the arm 42'beyond the pivot connection 45 is pivotally connected at 50 to a relatively short arm 5I pivotally connected at 52 to the upper end of the bracket 32 at a point substantially closer to the edge of the door than the pivot connection 49 of the arm 38.

The channels of the lever arms 31, 38, 48 and 5I face in one direction while the channels of the arms 4I and 42 face in the opposite direction, and the pivotally connected end portions of the arms 4I and 48, and 42 and 5I are respectively bent into offset relation, as at 53, for the purpose of allowing the lever arms to move into the contracted position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 with the arms 31 and 38, and 4| and 42 in contacting relation with each other.

The extensible support thus provided effectually supports the door in either the retracted or extended position or during movement of the door between these positions, and without the necessity for sliding support of the door upon the floor, or suspension support from an overhead track, as has been the case with the usual type of sliding door. The speciiic form of the extensible support is such that as the door is projected or retracted its movement takes place in a relatively long low arc which is calculated to allow the door to drop slightly as it reaches its projected or closed position and as it reaches its retracted or open position. This is illustrated by the positions shown in dot-and-dash lines in Fig. 7. Thus, in opening the door it swings clear of the floor and moves in this relation into retracted position so that no sliding frictional resistance is encountered. It is therefore possible to move the door between its open and closed positions with relative ease.

The door 33 is preferably formed from sheet metal pressed and bent to shape to provide hollow marginal portions surrounding the central sheet metal panel portion. Within the vertical marginal portion at the outer edge of the door there is provided a flush type latch device, and for this purpose the vertical edge surface is provided with a pressed-in recess 54 for receiving the latch bolt nose and the forward and rearward side surfaces are provided with pressed-in recesses 55 for receiving the bolt handles at each side of the door. Within this vertical marginal portion of the door there is secured a latch frame 56 in which is pivotally mounted a latch bolt 51 having its nose end projected through slot openings 58 and 59 pro vided respectively in the frame 56 and the recess 54, the bolt being provided at its outer end with a hook end 60, beveled or rounded at its outer edge. The shaft El of the bolt has handles 62-82 secured upon its respective ends, these handles being disposed in iiush relation within the recesses 55. A spiral spring 63 is secured within the frame 56 and bears upon the upper side of the bolt to yieldably retain it in its latching position, turning of the handles adapted to lift the bolt in the slots 58 and 59 against the pressure of the spring. The hub of the bolt is provided with a recess 54 for cooperation of a key actuated lock `85 therewith for the purpose oi securing the bolt and locking the door. The bolt is adapted in the closed position of the door to engage a striker plate 66 of outwardly bowed form and rigidly secured within the base of the metal channel strip 28 by welding, riveting, or otherwise attaching its end portions thereto. A reinforcing plate `El is secured to the inner side of the striker plate, and bolt engaging slots 68 and 69 are respectively provided in the striker plate and the reinforcing plate for receiving the hook end of the bolt in latching relation, as shown in Fig. 8.

In operation the latch automatically engages the bolt as the door moves into its closed position. In order to open the door the handle 62 at either side is turned to lift the latch bolt, whereupon the door may be moved to its open position. Within the lower end of the recess 54 there is provided a nger grip aperture which may be conveniently engaged by a finger in the open position of the door to move it to its closed position.

For the purpose of convenient assembly or disassembly of the door the top metal channel strip 28 of the door frame is removed, and the door may thereupon be swung into and out of the door opening upon its hinge connection with the bracket 32, the clearances being such that the swing may start with the edge of the door disengaged from the vertical `channel strip 28 and thereupon continued by withdrawing the bracket 32 from the pocket frame, as shown clearly in Fig. 11. In this swung position of the door the hinge pins 36 are readily accessible for the purpose -of removing the door from or attaching it to the bracket 32.

I have illustrated and described preferred and satisfactory embodiment of the invention, but it will be understood that changes may be made therein, within the spirit and scope thereof, as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a door unit, a mounting support, a door having vertical side edges, a bracket mounted upon one vertical side edge of said door in laterally opposed relation to said mounting support, and an extensible support means connected between said mounting support and said bracket, and comprising a lazy tong system of pivotally connected levers wherein the two end levers at one end of said system are respectively pivotally connected at upper and lower fixed points to said mounting support, y and wherein the two end levers at the other end of said system are respectively pivotally connected to said bracket at upper and lower iixed points, the upper end lever at one end of said system being jointed intermediate its ends, and the lower end lever at the other end of said system being jointed intermediate its ends, said extensible support means constituting in any position of extension a rigid supporting strut between said mounting support and said door whereby the weight of the door is entirely supported through said extensible support means.

2. In a door unit, a mounting support, a door having vertical side edges, a bracket mounted upon one vertical side edge of said door in laterally opposed relation to said mounting support, and an extensible support means connected between said mounting support and said bracket, and comprising a lazy tong system of pivotally connected levers wherein the end levers at one end of said system are respectively pivotally connected at upper and lower fixed points to said mounting support, the upper xed point being laterally closer to said vertical side edge of the door than the lower xed point, and wherein the end levers at the other end of said system are respectively pivotally connected to said bracket at upper and lower xed points, the upper point being laterally closer to said vertical side edge of the door than the lower xed point, said extensible support means constituting in any position of extension a rigid supporting strut between said mounting support and said door whereby the weight of the door is entirely supported through said extensible support means.

3. In a door unit, a mounting support, a door having vertical side edges, a bracket mounted upon one vertical side edge of said door in laterally opposed relation to said mounting support, and an extensible support means connected between said mounting support and said bracket, and comprising a lazy tong system of pivotally connected levers wherein the two end levers at one end of said system are respectively pivotally connected at upper and lower fixed points to said mountingare respectively pivotally connected to said bracka et at upper and lower xed points, and the upper one of said last mentioned end levers is Yjointed intermediate its ends, said extensible support means constituting in any Yposition of extension a rigid supporting strut between said mounting support and said door whereby the weight of the door is entirely supported through said extensible support means.

4. In a door unit, a mounting support, a door having vertical side edges, a bracket mounte upon one vertical side edge of said door in laterally opposed relation to said mounting support, and an extensible support means connected between said mounting support and said bracket," and comprising a lazy tong system of pivotally connected levers wherein the two end levers at one end of said system are respectively pivotally com nected at upper and lower fixed points to said mounting support, the upper xed point being laterally closer to said verticalside edge of the door than the lower fixed point, and the lower one of said end levers is jointed intermediate its ends, and wherein the two endlevers at the other end of said system are respectively pivotally connect'- ed to said bracket at upper andlower xed points, the upper point beingl laterally closer to said ver-- tical side edge of the doorthanA the lower fixed' point and the upper one of said last mentioned end levers is jointed intermediate its'ends, said extensible support means constituting in any position of extensiona rigid supporting strut between said mounting support and said' door where by the weight of thedoor is entirely supported through saidextensible support means.

5. In a door unit, a mounting support, -a door having vertical side-edges, a bracket mounted upon one verticalside edgeof said'door in lateral'- ly opposed relation to said mounting support,and

and the lower end lever at the other end of saiolV system being jointed intermediate its ends, said extensible support means constituting in any position of extension a rigid supporting strut between said mounting support and said door whereby the weight ofthe door is entirely supported through saidvextensible support means, the relative disposition of said fixed pivot points and the lengths of said levers being such that the lower pivot point of said bracket has movement in a low ascending arc between the projected and retracted positions of the door, whereby the door is raised slightly as it is moved between its projected and retracted positions.

6. In a door unit, a mounting support, a door having vertical side edges, a bracket mounted upon one vertical side edge of said door in laterally opposed relation yto said mountingsupport, and an extensible support means connected between said mounting support and said bracket, and comprising a lazy tongfsystem of pivotally connected levers wherein the two end levers at one end of said system are respectively pivotally connected at upper and lower fixed points to said mounting support, the upper fixed point being laterally closer to said vertical side edge of the door than the lower fixed point, and the lower one of said end levers is jointed intermediate its ends, and wherein the two end levers at the other end of said system are respectively pivotally connected to said bracket at upper and lower xed points, the upper point being laterally closer to said vertical side edge oi the door than the lower xed point, and the upper one of said last mentioned end levers is jointed `intermediate its ends, said extensible support means constituting in anypo sition of extension a rigid supporting strut between said mounting support and said door whereby the weight of the door is entirely supported through said extensible support means, the relative disposition of said fixed pivot points and the lengths of said levers being such that the lower pivot point of said bracket has movement in a low ascending arc between the projected and retracted positions of the door, whereby the door is raised slightly as it is moved between its projected and retracted positions.

ARTHUR CLAUD-MANTLE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references lare of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

